CIS 501 (FALL 2003): Introduction To Computer Architecture

Instructor: Amir Roth (amir@cis)
603 Levine
Office hours: TR 10-11 (or by appointment)

TA: Bill Kandylas (kandylas@seas)
Office hours: WF 5:30-7 GRW 076

TA: Gunjan Gupta (ggupta@seas)
Office hours: TR 4-5:30 Moore 459

Meeting Times and Places

Lecture: Hielmeier Hall, TR 12-1:30 (CLASS SCHEDULE)
Recitation: NONE

Course Description

This is the third offering of the "new" CIS 501. It will be quite similar to the FALL 2002 version. We will cover the following topics:

performance and cost
instruction set design
memory systems and I/O
in-order pipelines
instruction scheduling techniques
static methods for instruction-level parallelism (ILP): VLIW, EPIC and IA64
dynamic methods for ILP: out-of-order execution and speculation
vectors/SIMD and multimedia
multithreading and an introduction to multiprocessors
low-power and embedded processors
post-silicon computing

I will present new-"research"-topics as we go along and as time permits.

Reading Materials and Resources

We will use one textbook:

Hennessy and Patterson, "Computer Architecture: A quantitative Approach" (THIRD edition).

Although the course is introductory in name, it actually assumes that you have a background in basic computer architecture and microprocessor design. Those of you who feel that you are lacking in certain areas may want to acquire a copy of the following book:

Patterson and Hennessy, "Computer Organization and Design: The Hardware/Software Interface"

I will supply you with any additional reading material. Also, class notes will be available on-line. Check the ever-changing CLASS SCHEDULE for notes. Hard copy versions will be available at the beginning of each class, extra copies will be placed in bins outside of Levine 502.

Simulation Tools

As part of the course, we will be using the SimpleScalar microarchitecture simulator. Documentation and other simulator related material will be available here. Starting this semester, you will also be able to run your simulations "on the grid" using Condor.

Homework

There will be 4-5 homework assignments, each consisting of problems to be worked out by hand and some short simulation work using SimpleScalar. Homework is due at the beginning of the class period for which it is assigned. Late homework is not accepted unless prior arrangements are made. You may ask myself, the TA, or each other for assistance, but please cite your references on the assignment. Check the CLASS SCHEDULE for homeworks.

Course Project

An important part of the course-from both an educational and a grading standpoint-will be a six-week mini research project. You will do the project in groups of 3 or 4. The project deliverables consist of a proposal, and a 4K word conference-format final report. The default project is to explore some small extension to a concept we study in class, to validate the experimental data in some paper, or to evaluate an idea of your own. More details about the project will be available as the semester progresses.

Exams

The mid-term exam will be in class on Oct. 28. The final will be on Dec. 17, during its assigned Finals week slot, and will be cumulative. The final exam will count as the PhD Architecture WPE I exam.

Grading

Grading breakdown for the course is as follows:

Homework: 15%
Mid-term exam: 25%
Final exam: 35%
Project: 25%

If you want to cheat, go ahead. Getting caught will result in (at best) a non-negotiable grade of zero on the corresponding item, with a commensurate effect on the final grade. For example, if I catch you cheating on the mid-term, you will get no higher than a 75 for the course (last year that was a C).